Monday, December 23, 2013

To those of you who feed the hummingbirds, be sure to swap out your feeders during the day. I keep 2 feeders, one inside to exchange with the one outside. The hummingbird that has claimed this feeder has actually landed and fed on the warm feeder while I was hanging it!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Daisy is was born 5 years ago today. As I write this I am weeping.
Every year on their birthdays, six of the families who have Goldens from this litter send out a Happy Birthday email with photos. We have done this every year and enjoyed seeing the photos and hearing that ours isn't the only naughty puppy in the litter. Today, one of the families' email said that lost their beloved Oliver to intestinal cancer just 2 weeks ago. I am heartbroken for them. Anyone who has a pet knows what a huge loss this is. So tonight when you see that new star in the sky please say a little prayer for Oliver's family.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Ok, so here's what you do if you want to be really organized and plan ahead.( Caution, long story...)

I decided to cook the turkey the day before everyone came over this Thanksgiving.This is my first attempt at this. I wanted to make life easier and less work on the day. We normally have 10 people for dinner, and this year we were having 12. So, being the math whiz that I am, I go and grab a frozen turkey that is 12.65 kg, which I figure will be big enough.
Now wait dear reader, don't do the math on how much it is in pounds yet! I lug it to the self serve checkout, since it is the only item I have and I don't want to wait in line. Of course, being mindful of getting in some exercise, I have parked at the farthest corner of the parking lot, and figured that I could lug it there in my arms. After all, it was only one item, who needs a cart? By the time I got it to the car, I realized that I would have been better off with a cart. A frozen turkey in my arms was exhausting. And even more so when I did the math at home and realized that I had bought a 27.8 lb turkey. What the heck was I thinking? We were only adding two more people at dinnertime!!! Fortunately, I purchased it 5 days before the dinner, as it took 4 days to thaw in the fridge.
So, on to cooking day. That huge sucker not only took up the entire oven with one shelf removed, it was so heavy that I couldn't stuff it and almost put my back out every time I took it out to baste it. Here it is, in the oven:

I was beginning to worry the shelf was going to be permanently warped. I did manage to cook it without needing physio the next day, and it turned out beautifully, really delicious, and as I am writing this, I am salivating - a cheap frozen turkey, and it was wonderful!
Here is the turkey on the stove after baking, next to my largest cook pot. Yes, the picture tells no lies, that bird was as large as half the stove top!!!

I waited a half hour, carved the entire thing, separated the dark and white meat into casseroles and refrigerated them until an hour before dinnertime. I reheated the meat in the oven with a cup of defatted drippings on top. Everyone agreed they couldn't tell by the taste that it was cooked the day before.

Now here's the kicker: in spite of the over-sized bird, the gravy made in advance, the stuffing made in advance, the delicious cranberry chutney made in advance, no stress on the day, I BLEW IT!!! Because in spite of all my good intentions, when I told everyone that I had done all this in advance, their faces fell when they realized there would be no skin to pick away at before dinner.

Oh well, lesson learned. Next time I will be sure to keep some skin aside and crisp it up for nibbling.